Productivity Archives - Page 18 of 35

The 5 Ways to Get that Fresh Start Feeling All Year Long!

September is officially here, fall is right around the corner and from my years spent in school this time of year has always come to represent a fresh start for me in my life. As some of you may already know, I had a very busy summer buying, fixing up and moving into my first home with my husband. September is here and I have wiped my slate clean and have decided to approach the last leg of this year with a new game plan and perspective. So, today I want to share with you my 5 strategies for getting a fresh start feeling all year long. No matter what day or month it is, you too can refresh your life and create a new plan to move forward and achieve your goals and these tips are going to help guide you to fresh start success!

1. Choose a fresh start date

People consider many things a fresh start date, new years, birthday, back to school, Mondays… but you can choose any date that you prefer, the date is truly arbitrary. Try to tie this date to something significant for you, like the end of a project or the start of a new season.

2. Refresh your planner

Buy a new planner or reorganize your old one. There is a reason that many planners start up in the summer months and then run 17-18 months. Because people do tend to need a fresh start after summer. If you are looking for a new planner, I would highly suggest checking out my Charmed Life Planner, not just because it is my planner, but because I have heard from many people who have been using the Charmed Life Planner that is has really helped them to get organized. If you are a lister, or someone who likes to lay their plans all out and see everything, this planner really has a lot of awesome features that you won’t want to miss including project master lists and expense pages!

3. Clean up your space

Nothing says fresh start like a clean workspace or home. Once you have a date set for your fresh start, get your space set for a true fresh start feeling by taking some time to clean and organize your life.

4. Find a few new office supplies or accessories

I know that its a bit dangerous for me to tell a bunch of stationery lovers to buy new office supplies, but the truth is that a few new special items can really bring a sense of significance to your arbitrary refresh date. Make sure to pick up items that you actually want to use, and not just items that you want to look at and hoard. These goodies need to be your reward and to make the biggest impact you need to be using and enjoying your new things.

5. Decide on a new project and take 1 step right now

The reason many of us are looking for a fresh start is because we feel like something didn’t go well with the previous one! We weren’t being productive or we weren’t making progress on an important goal or project that was important to us. So pick a special project, it can be for work, school or home and make that the first thing you work on with your fresh start. Nothing gets you off to a good start the way a new project does so pick a project and take one step immediately to getting that project accomplished. This could mean simply writing out a project plan for the project in question, or it could mean finding an accountability buddy to help keep you in check with your progress, or if can mean getting down to work and knocking out related tasks! The important part is that you decide what you are going to do and start doing it- nothing is more motivating than that!

So, now I have some action items for you! Take out something to write on or takes notes with and I am going to ask you a few questions and I want you to write down the first thing that comes to mind. I want a gut reaction here, not a well thought out response because if you really want that refresh you need to be honest with yourself about these questions. You ready?

1. What date in the near future is the soonest you could schedule your refresh? Think about significant events in your life, perhaps obligations that are ending soon that would free up some of your time or new obligations that are starting up that you’d like to be at your best for. Write down that date and get it scheduled into your calendar!

2. What about your current planner system isn’t working? Write down any issues you are facing so you can address those head on!

3. What area of your home or office would you dread having to clean up or organize? That’s the area that you are going to need to clean up first and trust me, once you do a weight is going to lift from your shoulders!

4. What office supply or stationery item have you been coveting but haven’t purchased out of an excersize in self control? If you can afford it, I want you to buy it for yourself as soon as you are done with the mess you need to organize from the previous question!

5. What is the single goal or project you really wanted to have started or completed this year that would make you truly feel like you accomplished something important? That’s the project you need to start on first!

Good news! If you followed along with this post and engaged the way I had suggested, you have not only learned my 5 strategies for getting a fresh start feeling anytime of year, but you also have a plan with 5 action items for you to get started with to get your fresh start underway? See, it works like a charm! Now it’s your turn to tell me how you are going to refresh yourself for the coming fall. Let me know in the comments below!

xoxo,

Filofax Productivity

The 7 Items to Track In Your Planner for Less Stress and More Productivity

The 7 Items to Track In Your Planner for Less Stress and More Productivity

I’m always on a quest to identify the best way to use my planner! There are so many options out there for how I could use my planner, but many of those options don’t align with my personal priorities. When it comes down to it, I use my planner to keep me organized, productive and to prevent me, as much as possible, from getting stressed out or overwhelmed by the tasks of daily life. Now, I’m pretty sure the vast majority of us already use our planners to list our daily to-dos and keep track of our calendars more or less, so today I wanted to share the 7 things you should track in your planner for less stress and more productivity.

Yearly Goals: Goal setting is an essential element of leading a productive and meaningful life. That’s why I created a whole workbook dedicated to the topic to help those who know they have aspirations but aren’t sure how to get started executing them. I think it is very important to keep track of your yearly goals in your planner so that the information is front and center in your life. If you don’t have your goals mapped out yet, it’s never too late to get started so check out my You Got This workbook and get to your goal setting!

Monthly & Weekly Tasks: Beyond the day to day, it’s important to keep track of the things you want to accomplish during a specific time frame. On a monthly basis I keep track of specific tasks and projects I want to work on during the month. Then from those tasks I like to assign specific items to certain weeks. Many projects and tasks take longer than a day to complete and in order to prioritize their completion assigning them to a week helps to carve out time for them to get done.

Weekly Meal Plan: Meal planning is legitimately a true time saver. I know there are many strategies I suggest that don’t necessarily help everyone to be more productive, but if you aren’t meal planning, you are wasting time in your day for sure and probably even money. You don’t have to meal plan for weeks in advance, I find that a week at a time is good for me, and you don’t even have to map out exactly when you are going to eat which meal, but instead I keep a running list of meals and choose which I am going to eat on a daily basis so that I have an element of choice. Just the act of planning out a set number of meals for the week and then buying your groceries in accordance with that, can save you money and time. If you are looking for a great way to add meal planning into your planner, check out this meal planning bundle of printable inserts from my shop!

Gratitude List: It’s also been scientifically acknowledged that people who incorporate a regular gratitude practice into their lives are happier and less stressed. Whether that means you wake up in the morning and make a quick gratitude list or spend an hour journaling what you are grateful for, it really makes no difference. The main thing is that you are practicing gratitude on a regular basis. I use these weekly gratitude list inserts that are quick to use but very impactful in my gratitude practice.

Master Project Log: Once you have set your goals as per above, you will most likely have a number of projects you want to work on throughout the year and of course different projects may pop up from time to time as well that you will need to track. I suggest having a place in your planner dedicated to tracking and breaking out those projects so you can adequately manage them throughout the year. In my planner, I use my Project Planning Bundle and the yearly goal tracker specifically to map this information out for myself over the year. It creates a roadmap for me to follow on a monthly basis for where I want to spend my time and energy.

Victories & Accomplishments: It’s very easy in life for us to become jaded and feel like we aren’t making progress. This is why I think it’s so essential that we actively track our victories and accomplishments as they occur. These don’t have to be crazy victories, small wins in our lives and just great events that inspire and empower us should really be tracked so that we can see all the good and positive that happens in our life. No one’s life is perfect but it’s easier to get yourself through the tough times if you acknowledge that every once in a while good things happen as well.

Your Daily Routines: Your routines are in essence, your life. As they say “You are what you repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit.” Routines can be established to help you achieve excellence in any goal you wish to achieve. Tracking them is an important step to either keeping them consistent or making an adjustment. I talk about creating daily routines in You Got This and I highly encourage you to track and establish your own positive routines in your planners so that you are reviewing them on a regular basis.

Which of these essential productivity items do you plan to add to your planner? Drop me a line in the comments below!

xoxo,

Filofax Productivity

Get Your Free September Self Care Checklists, Planner Dashboards & Tech Wallpapers

It’s the last week of August and I am so thrilled that September and Fall, are around the corner! So, it’s time for me to publish your monthly free planner inserts. This month, along with your monthly dashboard, I have created a Self Care September Checklist. It’s filled with 30 self care related tasks for you to try out in September. I know that for me, Fall is all about those cozy night’s in and adjusting to shorter days. I’ll be spending a good amount of time working on my rest and relaxation routine in September and I highly encourage you to take some time for yourself as well.

I also designed a new set of FREE Tech Wallpapers for you this month. I love this Black & White Marble theme and for some extra motivation I included one of my favorite little coffee cup illustrations! Remember, the #PSL is almost here!! You can download these awesome wallpapers here.

I hope you enjoy the inserts and wallpapers, and of course, I love seeing pictures of them at home in your planners, so if you download them, please snap a picture, post it to instagram and tag me @MissTrenchcoat as well as #charmedGTD so the whole community can enjoy your images as well!

xoxo,

Business Personal Development Productivity

How to Improve Your Life, Sleep and Business!

Hey there business and productivity besties! I know it has been a while since I’ve had a link roundup here on the blog but I’m back today with some great links to help inspire you to get your personal development, productivity and business under control just in time for fall!

Personal Development

Productivity

Business

As always, I hope you enjoyed these articles and found a new great read that was able to help you answer some questions or inspire you to live a little differently. If you have any articles you read and loved lately, please share those in the comments below so we can all check it out! And if you are looking to dive deep into personal development this year, I highly suggest you check out my Charmed Life Master Class! This self-paced ecourse is designed to help you get control of your life, career and relationships through a series of guided lectures and worksheets all for an affordable price. Don’t miss out- get started today!

xoxo,

My Productivity Playlist

Classical Favorites To Boost Your Productivity {My Productivity Playlist August 2016}

I cannot believe that for all the time that I have been creating productivity playlists for you, that I have not created a playlist of my favorite classical tunes. Well, this is the perfect month to share them because in case you missed my YouTube video from the other week, I am focusing on Fall prep this month and nothing helps me get down to work like classical music. It’s serious, stern and flips a mental switch in my brain that says GET TO WORK! Now, I know classical music isn’t everyones cup of tea, but I want to challenge you to expand your mind on this one and one day when you go to work, I want you to turn on this playlist and see if it doesn’t make you a little more productive and focused. I bet it does and you may even have a productivity breakthrough while listening, so give it a go.

I hope you enjoyed this months installment of my productivity playlist. If you gave this playlist a try and found it to be helpful as you worked, please let me know about it in the comments. And if you have your own classical music playlist that you rely on, please share it as well, because I think we can all use a little more focus at work!

xoxo,

Productivity

Time-Saving Work Day Hacks To Help You Work Smarter, Not Harder!

Are you ready to hack your workday to get more done in less time and truly work smarter, not harder? If my love and study of productivity and organization is meant for anything, it’s meant to help us (me, you, everyone we know!) learn the essential strategies that make our workdays easier. So today I have compiled a list of twelve of my favorite time-saving, stress-releasing, and productivity inducing workday hacks to help you become the master of your own workflow in the office!

1. Get properly dressed: Yep, first things first! If you aren’t wear the proper clothing for work you are going to be uncomfortable, uneasy and you’ll ultimately end up working slow and miserable counting down the hours until you can return home to step into your pajamas. Although you may work in a formal business environment that requires a certain dress code, unless you are wearing a uniform, you have some say over the cut and materials of the clothing you buy, and so many brands have popped up in recent years to give women more comfortable formal office wear options.

2. Diffuse essential oils: One of the first things I do when I step into my office for a workday is create a blend of essential oils for the workday. I wrote about my essential oil secret weapon a few weeks ago, so make sure to check out that post if you want some tips from me on oils to diffuse.

3. Listen to white noise or classical music: For most of us, working silently isn’t the most productive way to work. I personally love listening to classical music while I work or turn on a sound machine app that can create some subtle white noise so that I can focus better, especially when I am working on difficult or stressful tasks.

4. Theme your workdays: Ever since I began theming my work days I have been much more efficient. Essentially, I took all my major work tasks and grouped like items together to come up with themes for each day of the week and on those days I use the theme to guide my work. Although I may need to stray from time to time for urgent issues, theming my days has kept me more accountable and helps me streamline my work.

5. Batch like items together: This goes along with theming my workdays, but whether or not you theme your days, you should always batch process your work. Jumping from task to task has been scientifically proven to be a waste of time, so when you can spend a chunk of time doing the same task over and over, you save yourself time by working more efficiently.

6. Set a timer to complete annoying tasks: Whenever I am avoiding tasks, I find the best thing to do is to set a timer to get them done! Having the deadline of a timer helps me get past my mental blocks and just do the hard work. Give it a try next time you recognize that you are avoiding certain tasks.

7. Shut your door: Shutting your door is a simple way to tell yourself and others that you are busy working. Having an open door policy in the office is nice, but when people see an open door and want to waste some time at work, they head straight for it! Likewise, when your door is open, it encourages you more often to leave your office or allow passers by to distract you from your tasks. So keep the door shut and if you are working on a particularly difficult project or task, you might want to leave a Do Not Disturb note on your door to discourage visits.

8. Make a NOT To Do List: No matter if you work in an office for a big corporation or if you work in your bedroom on your own small business, tasks come across our desks and emails that we should not waste our time on and one of the hardest parts of managing your personal workload is understanding which tasks you should not be doing. I’m a people pleaser and when I get a task, any task, I take ownership of it and strive to complete it, but through the years I’ve learned that sometimes tasks come up and they are not worth your time, even if they are assigned to you. So, as you learn about these useless tasks, keep a list of them so you know not to do them in the future. If you work for yourself it will be easy for you to delegate them to an assistant or ignore them completely, but if you don’t you may need to have a slightly difficult conversation with your boss and let them know you aren’t completing the task and give them a reasonable and well thought out explanation why the tasks is a waste. A lot of time, especially in corporate culture, tasks get attention that are worthless and our superiors keep assigning the task because that’s the way it’s always been done. Be willing to stand up for change to save yourself and your company the time and energy.

9. Use an email autoresponder and only check email twice a day: For some, this hack is NOT an option, but for those whose work is not tied to checking emails for customer service or something similar, you should give this a try. Set up an auto response email that says something like “Thank you for your email. I generally reply to all emails within 24 hours but if this is an emergency please call me at XXX-XXX-XXXX”. What this simple auto responder does is sets an expectation to anyone emailing you that they will get a response but not immediately, while also creating a process for urgent issues so that you can turn off from your email and check it when you are ready without fear of missing something important.

10. Keep your cell phone off your desk: I am always distracted by my iPhone. Not just by messages but also by the fact that I can at any time pick it up and check Instagram if I want, and I unfortunately spend too much time during my day doing this without even thinking about it. So, when I keep my phone off my desk, either on a charger on another table or in my bag, I remove the distraction. Since I use a Mac, if I get a phone call while my phone is off my desk, I can actually screen and answer the call from my laptop without having to get up, but if you are worried that you may miss important calls, devices like the Ringly or Apple Watch notify you without having to keep your phone out.

11. Keep hydrated by drinking water at set intervals: Keeping hydrated through the day is very important for mental productivity, but if you keep a bottle out and sip on it all day, you’ll end up disrupting your workflow for bathroom breaks. So, to combat this, I try to drink my fluids in bulk at regular intervals so that I’m not running back and forth from the bathroom as I work.

12. Reward yourself with activity after each 2 hour block of work: As I work, not matter how productive I am being, I always get the urge to check social media, read a blog post or watch a YouTube video, however, I have started to discipline myself to only engage in these activities after I have completed a block of work. This helps me to create a reward system that entices me to work faster and complete more tasks throughout the day. And it’s much healthier for you than taking a snack or smoke break!

I hope you enjoyed these twelve workday hacks and if you give any of them a try I want to hear about it! Tag me on Instagram @MissTrenchcoat and use #CharmedGTD in your description so me and the rest of our community can follow along with your productivity journey!

xoxo,

Productivity

Get Your Productivity Under Control with These Awesome Free Planner Inserts and Downloads!

Hello My Strange & Charmed Ones!

It’s been a minute since we last spoke, hasn’t it!?! As some of you may already know, the last month has been absolutely crazy for me because my husband and I bought our first home and moved into it, which was a massive undertaking that left me a little overwhelmed and kept me away from my work (and phone and computer!) to a degree that I never expected. Well, good news! Things are finally starting to settle down for us, although we have much work ahead of us, I do plan to get back into the groove of blogging and working come August and I hope that I can knock it out of the park with some great new content that you’ll enjoy! One thing I didn’t want to forget, however, was your monthly free downloads, so I am stopping by today to give you an update that they are ready for you to download over at The Charmed Shop! I’ve got your August Dashboard, a 30 Strategies to Make You More Productivity task list and of course, some beautiful August calendar tech wallpapers!

I have to admit, it’s been very weird for me not working much or interacting with you for the past month, so I would really appreciate it if you guys sent me some love and inspiration over on Instagram! Feel free to snap a pic of your inserts or wallpapers in use in your life and tag me @MissTrenchcoat so I can be inspired by your creativity.

Thank you all so much for your never ending love and encouragement, it really means so much to me, and thank you to all those who sent me messages and well wishes during my absence! Your kindness is so deeply appreciated!

xoxo,

Productivity

My Essential Oil Productivity Secret Weapon

My Essential Oil Productivity Secret Weapon

It’s no secret that I love and use essential oils on a regular basis to help me manage my mood and my productivity. For some, the topic of essential oils falls into the woo-woo category, it’s not actionable strategy, it isn’t a true productivity tool that can aid you in staying organized or remaining on task. For some, the concept of aromatherapy is on par with inspirational quotes and meditation, and that’s fine. But I’m here to tell you today that I don’t care how woo-woo it seems to use essential oils, I know that the affects of aromatherapy have drastically helped me improve my life and I want to share with you my number one essential oil secret weapon that does help me increase my productivity!

If you are someone who has a hard time waking up in the morning. If you are someone who looses focus throughout the workday or falls into the afternoon slump where you just want to take a nap. THIS SECRET WEAPON IS FOR YOU! Anytime I use it, my mood instantly turns to one of action and empowerment, and it seriously helps me boost my productivity for the day.

Let me tell you a little story!

Back in April, I was lucky enough to be invited to speak at a planner convention in Atlanta. I flew in for the event, met up with a great bunch of girls and we spent the evening before the event dining and having fun. I admittedly enjoyed myself a little too much, stayed up past midnight and had one too many drinks. My friends were slightly concerned that I may not wake up in the morning on time for our event, but I told them I would be there on time, bright eyed and bushy tailed!

The next morning, when my alarm went off at 6am, I immediately grabbed my secret weapon essential oil, sat in silence with it for about ten minutes breathing it in and waking myself up for the day. After that I drank down a bottle of water, got dressed and headed to the event. I was one of the first to arrive and I was on my feet for a solid 8-10 hours that day full of energy, no caffeine required. All the girls thought I was some sort of wonder woman and wanted to know my secret weapon, which I gleefully shared with them. It gave me the energy and focus to push past exhaustion and a hangover to put my best effort into the day ahead.

So, you’re probably wondering, what is this secret weapon? I’ll tell you…

Doterra Elevation Joyful Blend Essential Oil

Let me just take a moment to explain, this isn’t an advertisement or promotional post, I am not being paid to talk about this oil- it’s just seriously a tool in my arsenal that I use to get me up and at em when I need that extra lift. Some people turn to coffee, and I definitely do on a regular basis, but coffee doesn’t always sustain my energy and can leave me feeling even more tired once it’s affects wear off. Some people swear by pills or energy drinks, again, we are talking artificial chemicals or sweeteners and not our bodies own natural resources. When I take a few minutes to sit calmly and breathe in the scent of Doterra Elevation, I am stimulating energy resources inside myself. I’m not adding sugar or chemicals or addictive substances to my body, I’m flipping a switch inside myself that turns on my own juice!

Okay, so you’re probably wondering, what’s inside this Elevation Oil and how do I use it?

The elevation oil is a blend of floral, sweet and citrus to uplift your mind and produce energy. It’s ingredients include: Lavandin Flower, Lavender Flower, Hawaiian Sandalwood, Tangerine Peel, Melissa Flower, Ylang Ylang Flower, Elemi Resin, Osmanthus Flower, and Lemon Myrtle Leaf essential oils.

I like to use this oil a few different ways.

In the morning when I wake up, I like to sit quietly crossed legged, open the oil and keep it to my nose as I breath deeply in and out for a few moments. I will personally tie this to a gratitude or meditation practice where I am breathing the oil and thinking my positive, calming thoughts for the day at the same time.
During the workday I will either diffuse a few drops of the oil in my office space OR I will rub it onto my wrists so I can keep the scent lingering around me as I work. You could also add a few drops to your favorite hand lotion if you have sensitive skin that is easily irritated by scented oils.

Of course, these aren’t the only ways you can use the oil, but it’s the way I use it on a daily basis. I sincerely love this oil and consider it my number one productivity secret weapon for a reason- it really does help me to naturally elevate my mindset and promote productivity when I’m loosing focus! Definitely give it a try today, here is a link where you can purchase the oil if you are curious! If you use Elevation yourself or would like to recommend any other oils to me, I’d love for you to tell me about it in the comments.

xoxo,

Productivity

Do You Need a Planner Intervention?

If you don’t subscribe to me on YouTube, you have been missing out on a great planning series I am in the middle of called Functional Planning! It’s all about setting up and using your planner to not only achieve planner peace, but to also maximize productivity and organization in your life. I have the pleasure of hearing from my followers on a daily basis, and when it comes to planners and organization, many of them recount the same old tale of planner peace won and lost. No matter which planner system they are using and no matter what planners they have tried in the past, my advice is always the same… It’s not your planner that is the problem, it’s the way you are using it! So, if you are struggling to find a planner or a system for planning that works for you and your life, if you have too many planners and are going crazy deciding which to use and if you NEED a PLANNER INTERVENTION (or know someone who does), my functional planning series will help you find clarity!

Functional Planning #1: Intro to Functional Planning | 5 Reasons You’re NOT Finding Planner Peace

In this video I cover the 5 most common reasons that people do not find or even loose planner peace. For many of us, it’s not just a single cut and dry reason, and for many of the members of my community that I have counseled through this issue, it’s actually a number of reasons which is why it’s important to know what problems are afflicting you so that you can address them!

Functional Planning #2: The Essentials of Functional Planning | 3 Roles of a Complete Planner System

In this second installment of my functional planning series, I discuss the three roles of a complete planner system. When it comes to choosing the right planner for you, it’s essential that your planner be able to do these three things so that you have confidence in your system. One of the problems I find with some planners is that they lack true functionality for users and although you may be drawn to one or another planner because of a specific size or layout, once you start planning and you find that your choice lacks certain functions, it becomes obsolete and you stop using it.

Functional Planning #3: Plan with Me May | My Monthly Functional Planning Process

In this installment of my functional planning series, you watch as I perform my monthly review process. Although this video takes place before May, it’s not the month that matters, but the process of what I do and how I use my planner to prepare for the upcoming month that will provide insight to you in how I functionally plan!

Functional Planning #4: Plan with Me | My Weekly Functional Planning Process

Finally, in this fourth (but not yet final) installment of my functional planning series, I walk you through how I plan on a weekly basis. My weekly review process is another major part of my functional planning process and in this video I share specific tips and strategies that you can implement in your own planner, plus you get a peek into how I use my functional planning stickers to keep my planner looking inspirational as well as functional!

So, I hope you enjoyed this recap of my still in progress functional planning series. If you have no yet enjoyed these videos, I highly recommend bookmarking this post and coming back to it the next time you are sitting down and working in your planner because you will want to take notes and start evaluating your current planner against my functional planning criteria. Even if you believe you have found planner peace, I think it’s always helpful to see how another person plans, so check out the videos and let me know what you thought in the comments below. Which video was most helpful to you and what tips did you walk away with? I’d love to hear about your functional planning experience!

xoxo,

My Productivity Playlist

Binge Worthy Podcasts I’ve Been Loving! {Productivity Playlist June 2016}

Binge Worthy Podcasts I’ve Been Loving!

Welcome back to Strange & Charmed for another installment of my Productivity Playlist series!

I feel like I go through phases with podcasts. Although I subscribe to a bunch that I like, I don’t always listen to new episodes unless I’m in the mood and I tend to be a person who prefers to binge listen to multiple episodes in one sitting. I end up training myself for delayed gratification by waiting weeks to catch up on a podcast I enjoy- weird but true (this is why I love Netflix series’ so much… binge much?!?) But a few weeks ago I shared on a YouTube video a podcast I had been loving and asked for you to leave me suggestions for more podcasts to listen to and ever since I have been on a full on podcast binge! So for today’s installment of my productivity playlist I want to share some of the podcasts I’ve been loving lately! Now, just a warning, most of these aren’t your run of the mill podcasts, these are actually all serialized docu-dramas where a story (true or fiction) is told week by week. If you love listening to books on tape like me, I think you’ll love these suggestions if they are in your genre.

Serial

https://serialpodcast.org

You’ve probably already heard about Serial, the incredibly popular and highly controversial podcast that is currently in it’s second season. This is one of the few true story podcasts on this list and blends reporting with great story telling. If you like true crime drama, this is for you!

Lore

http://www.lorepodcast.com

Less of a serialized doc-drama, Lore is a story based podcast that takes our popular myths and legends of the paranormal, horrific or supernatural and breaks them down into the stories that started them. “Sometimes the truth is more frightening than fiction,” as they say, and this is the concept that Lore is built around.

Limetown

http://www.limetownstories.com

Right now Limetown is a single season serial doc-drama that tells the fictional story of a girl looking for answers about a lost town she has loose ties to. Of course, things get creepy when she digs in deep. I so wish there was a second season of this podcast!

Tanis

http://www.tanispodcast.com

Now we’re getting into some seriously creepy, may keep you up at night podcasts. Another fictional serialized docu-drama about uncovering an unknown supernatural phenomenon called Tanis. So far the story isn’t creep in a traditional supernatural way, it’s more about fear of the unknown and questioning reality.

The Black Tapes Podcast

http://theblacktapespodcast.com

Beware, for me this podcast is probably the most frightening of all even though I know it’s another fictional serialized docu-drama, it covers the realm of the paranormal and is like listening to a scary ghost movie. Actually, it’s like listening to multiple scary ghost movies at once because this story isn’t just one ghost story, it’s many built into one.

We’re Alive

http://www.werealive.com

If you are a fan of The Walking Dead, you will love this podcast that is actually in numerous seasons with a ton of episodes perfect for binge-ing! It’s essentially an internet radio version of every zombie apocalypse show ever but without a lot of the unnecessary drama and character development most zombie shows suffer from. Great to listen to if you love zombies, and it’s more entertaining than frightening!

The Message

http://themessagepodcast.com

File the message under creepy alien related fictional docu-drama! This one literally kept me up at night, first to listen to because it was so well produced, and second because I was just that scared of the dark during and after listening!

I hope you enjoyed these podcast recommendations. I realize these are mostly a certainly type of podcast, mainly fiction for entertainment purposes which goes against the grain of things I usually share on this blog, but they have been what I’m loving so I thought it was worth it to share with you! I hope you find something new to listen to and if these podcasts aren’t for you, I hope to continue to share podcast recommendations with you, so don’t worry, this is not the end! Let me know in the comments what podcasts you have been loving and I’d greatly appreciate it!